STORM DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS AND CLEANUP UNDERWAYMany Richmond area roads closed due to downed trees and flooding

COLONIAL HEIGHTS—As Hurricane Irene takes aim at the New England states, she leaves behind a large number of downed trees, downed power lines and flooded roads in central Virginia.

Since 4 a.m., VDOT crews and tree trimming contractors have been removing trees and debris from roadways. Richmond area interstates are clear. Like snow removal, crews will now focus on clearing the high volume primary and secondary routes before moving on to low volume and neighborhood roads. Since many of the downed trees contain power lines, drivers and residents are strongly advised to avoid contact with them. VDOT is coordinating with Dominion Virginia Power to remove power lines from the trees before they can be removed from the road.

Traffic signal crews have been dispatched to many routes in the region to restore signals. If a traffic signal is out, drivers are advised to treat the intersection as a four way stop.

Heavy rain from this storm has caused drainage failures along some roads in the Richmond area. In Chesterfield County, Route 144 (Harrowgate Road) near Somerlane Road is closed and drainage repairs are underway. (UPDATE--Repairs are complete. The area has been covered with gravel and a crew will apply an asphalt patch Monday, Aug. 29).Two secondary routes in Hanover County are currently closed due to road washouts: Route 605 (River Road) near Route 644 (Summer Hill Road) and Route 634 (Beatties Mill Road). A VDOT crew from the Salem district is enroute to assist with the repairs in Hanover County

To report trees in the road, road flooding or traffic signal outages, contact VDOT’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-FOR-ROAD (1-800-367-7623).

Real-time listings of road conditions in Virginia are available on VDOT’s 24-hour traffic and travel information website, www.511Virginia.org or by calling 511. Bridge and road closures, including all secondary road closures, will be listed on the website. Richmond area traffic information is also available on Twitter @511centralVA.

Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.

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